Since 2013, we have built a strong reputation for our work with highly acclaimed productions including A Posi+ive Life, Queer Words, Dystopia, Pathos, Square One and engaging participatory projects including Man Made Youth Company and East African Cultural Exchange ‘TZ Project’. The company draws on contemporary social issues and events making work, which is beautifully crafted, accessible and relevant.

In 2018 we successfully premiered Queer words at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Longlisted for an Amnesty International Freedom of Speech Award 2018). In 2019, we toured Dystopia extensively to international festivals. We have toured A Posi+ive Life since 2017 to arts centres, schools, colleges, universities, youth and community centres across the UK.

AutinDT devises small/medium-scale productions of dance theatre and tours to venues and festivals across the UK and abroad. AutinDT allies the collaborative approach in the studio to the ethos and structure of the company and is driven by five core values: creativity, education, quality, passion and integrity.

AutinDT’s mission is to inspire, educate and instigate positive social changes by delivering world-class multi-disciplinary arts activities, and we hope you can join us on this journey.

Autin Dance Theatre Board

AutinDT has a skilled and dedicated board of trustees

Heather Maclaurin

After graduating from Leeds University with a BA Hons in Dance Heather returned to Solihull and continued to work with arts organisations across the Midlands. Starting as a project management intern at DanceXchange in 2014, Heather has since worked with Midlands-based Independent Arts organisations producing new work, supporting future growth strategies and developing audience development plans, including developing new dance work for Coventry City of Culture 2021 with Mercurial Dance.
In 2018 she co-produced and toured Autin Dance Theatre's Queer Words to Edinburgh Fringe Festival which was short-listed in the Amnesty International Freedom of Speech Award.
Heather is now the Marketing Manager for Sampad, she is responsible for growing Sampad’s online presence and works closely with the senior management and programming team to raise the profile of Sampad, and establishing relationships with partners regionally and nationally who will support and promote the organisation. She is responsible for all Press related activity and is currently managing a large scale website redevelopment project for Sampad. Heather has sat on the Board of Directors for Autin Dance Theatre since October 2018.

Jemima Waltho

Jemima is an award-winning producer, specialising in enrichment and creative education. A business graduate from Aston University, she has over 18 years experience of developing, delivering, funding and evaluating programmes that support disadvantaged young people to gain new skills, broaden their horizons and develop career pathways. Jemima has had a varied career, starting out at Hi8us Midlands Ltd; a youth-focused, not for profit arts, film and media organisation, where she worked for 7 years, employed as Deputy Director for the last 2. In 2008 she set up as a creative business and project management consultant; working with a host of regional and national youth arts and media-focused organisations. She has advised and run projects with Into Film (previously First Light), BFI, Bright Space, Maverick TV, Rural Media, Arts Connect and the RSA and for 2 years as a visiting lecturer at BCU, delivering a module on Media Enterprise.
She is a Director and Chair of the board for Autin Dance Theatre, was Chair of Governors for a Primary school in Smethwick and is now an OAT Governor for Ormiston Sandwell Community Academy. In her spare time, she mentors young people, freelancers and creative start-ups and is particularly keen to support their business and professional development. Jemima is passionate about supporting creative talent development and broadening access to knowledge of opportunity.
In her current role, at Ormiston Academies Trust, she leads on Enrichment across the Trust, supporting 38+ academies and over 29,000 young people; developing enrichment programmes, partnerships, funding and strategic focus.

Matthew Peters

For 30 years, Matthew Peters has been leaving his mark, both as a performer and manager, in some of the most prestigious concert halls across North America and Europe. He began his career as a cellist and by the age of 14, he had already performed in 7 countries. Before receiving his degree in Cello Performance from Northwestern University, Matthew became the youngest Producer of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra radio broadcasts in their history. A few years later, in New York, Matthew was named the Midwest & West Coast booking agent for Columbia Artists Management’s world-renowned soloist roster and was the primary contact for over 150 orchestras.
After moving to the UK, he created his own artist management company, ABMC Productions. Through ABMC, Matthew has provided a variety of services ranging from orchestral management, strategic planning, booking support, and contract negotiation. As an educator, Matthew was the Head of Strings at the Elgar School of Music, currently runs his own private cello studio, and is in-demand as a clinician across the UK.
Outside of classical music, Matthew composes experimental electronic and hip-hop music under the name Mad EP. He has released 6 critically acclaimed albums, performed at several international festivals, received radio support from the legendary Radio 1 Dj John Peel, had his own radio show on Sub.FM for 6 years, and regularly collaborates with professional and youth dancers and choreographers. www.abmcproductions.com

Zaylie- Dawn Wilson

Zaylie-Dawn Wilson is a theatre and arts professional and producer with over 15 years experience in the arts and charitable sector- developing new work out of learning, participation, community and artist development projects. Glasgow born and bred, she left Scotland to complete a Masters in Applied Theatre at Central School of Speech and Drama, before going on to work at a number of notable venues and companies; the Young Vic, The Roundhouse, Synergy Theatre, Cowley Road Carnival, OYAP Trust and the Albany as well as extensive International work in India, the US and across Europe.
In 2018, Zaylie joined one of the UK’s busiest multi-stage venues, Birmingham Hippodrome, where she is currently Head of Learning & Participation leading on the strategy for young people’s work, both in formal education across a network of 32 schools and participation: both open access and talent development. She is passionate about producing high-quality development opportunities and creating transformative experiences for young people who face barriers to accessing the arts.
Zaylie is proud to be a board member of Autin Dance Theatre, alongside being a governor for a Birmingham secondary school.

Work

"AUTIN’S VULNERABILITY AND HIS INSTINCTIVE, ALMOST FERAL APPROACH TO MOVEMENT MAKE TAKSIM SQUARE IMPRESSIVE AS AN INTENSE PHYSICAL PORTRAIT OF SOMEONE UNDER DURESS."

Johnny Autin

Creative Director & Dance Artist

Johnny is an established International Dance Artist and award-winning Choreographer based in Birmingham (UK). As a dance maker, he has being commissioned by various arts organisations to create work and engage with young dancers and professionals, including one of Dance Hub Birmingham’s first artistic commissions, commissions in East Africa (Tanzania and Rwanda) and several full-length choreography commissions for Universities, vocational training courses, post-graduates students, and more recently in Opera choreographing ‘Carmen’ in Macerata, Italy.
Johnny is the founder and Creative Director of Autin Dance Theatre. He is currently undertaking a post-graduate course (MBA) at the University of Wolverhampton and is a dedicated trustee on the board of Dancefest, Worcester. Johnny is also an Associate Artist with Birmingham Education Partnership.
Johnny believes in dance as an agent for positive social change. His choreographic process is often influenced by socio-political statements and engaged towards positive, empowering and inspiring artistic experiences to audiences.
As a workshop leader and educator, he has over 15 years of experience with school projects and the delivery of dance and movement workshops with educational bodies, dance agencies and centres for advanced training across the UK. Teaching credits include The Place London, DanceXchange, Royal Opera House, Wales Millennium Centre, Southbank Centre and Sadler's Wells. He is the Artistic Director of Man Made Youth Company (est. 2014) Birmingham first independent all-male youth dance company resident at Midlands Arts Centre - MAC.

Kirsten Tranter

Creative Producer

Independent Producer and Project Manager based in the Midlands, Kirsten spent the last 12 years in dance development and arts organisations around the Midlands, plus a short period of time teaching dance in China. Her early experiences saw her teaching in community and educational settings, alongside performing and making her own work. Since then Kirsten has worked at Dance4, mac birmingham and DanceXchange in various roles supporting artists, projects and programmes both regionally, nationally and internationally. These have included young people's programmes, supporting associate artists, training programmes for artists, community programmes, platform events, managing DanceXchange's Centre for Advanced Dance Training in both Contemporary and South Asian Dance, and managing a class programme. Kirsten decided to work independently in January 2016, as Autin Dance Theatre's ongoing Creative Producer, and on various other projects and programmes such as; Nott Romeo & Juliet (Dance4 & Birmingham Royal Ballet), Light Night 2016 (Dance4), U.Dance Selection (Dance4 & DanceXchange), Awakenings (Wise and Carter), North Warwickshire Youth Dance Company (Coventry Performing Arts Service), ManMade Youth Company (supported by mac birmingham), Spiltmilk (The Love Project), Navadisha (South Asian Dance Conference), and The Line Project (North Warwickshire Youth Dance project). She loves to work with lots of different people, share her passion for dance, and support people's potential.

LAURA VANHULLE

Dance Artist

Originally from Belgium, Laura trained at Northern School of Contemporary. Since graduating in 2009 Laura has performed with professional companies such as ACE Dance & Music, Shobana Jeyasingh, Motionhouse, Sonia Sabri Company and Keneish Dance along with independent artists including Douglas Thorpe, Andile Sotiya, Peter Grist, Dane Hurst and Rebecca Namgauds.
Based in the West-Midlands, she has delivered professional and community classes for various companies and organisations including DanceXchange, ACE Dance & Music and Shiobhan Collins-McCarthy Dance Academy. Recently, Laura has been directing her own project Angles in Life with Vanhulle Dance Theatre, a dance and film project performance inspired by Birmingham's industrial landscape.

Michael Kelland

Dance Artist

Michael trained at London Contemporary Dance School, where he worked with choreographers including Richard Alston and Jorge Crecis, graduating in 2012. Since then he had worked with multiple choreographers including James Wilton, Rosie Kay, Tom Dale and Riccardo Buscarini. Michael joined James Wilton Dance in 2012 and has since performed in Wilton’s works ‘Cave’, ‘On the Slate’ and ‘Last Man Standing’ both nationally and internationally.
He is interested in choreography and especially in blending theatrical texts and contemporary dance and his work has been performed in London and in other venues across the U.K. Michael also has a keen interest in Martial Arts and Yoga.

Katie Albon

Dance Artist

Katie graduated from Laban with a First Class BA (Hons) in 2013. She continued her studies at the University of Chichester and received a Distinction for her MA in Dance Performance, touring internationally with MAP Dance performing works by Kerry Nichols, Gary Clarke, Yael Flexer, Liz Agiss and Hagit Bar. She then went on to dance as a graduate intern with NMC (New Movement Collective) in their work Nest. Since relocating to Birmingham, Katie has worked with Florence Peake, Csaba Molnar and the Birmingham Opera Company. Katie also performs with Dance Equation, a dance in education company and The Natashas Project, a dance production which captures the reality of the world of sex slavery.

Jasmine Gardosi

Dance Artist

Jasmine Gardosi is the current Midlands and Cheltenham Slam Champion, Birmingham Poet Laureate finalist 2014/15 and one of the five winners of the International Pangaea Poetry Slam 2015. Having recently completed her work with BBC Arts making short-form content as a Young Creative, she continues to host events, run workshops, coordinate West Midlands Poets’ Place, and also currently works as a Poet in Residence at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. A speaker at TEDxBrum’s 2014 International Women’s Day, Jasmine continues to deliver talks about the taboo of menstruation around the country, including at Bristol’s Talk Period and at Oxford University. In autumn 2015, she represented the West Midlands on the Apples and Snakes Public Address national tour and was shortlisted for the Out-Spoken Prize for Performance. She likes to write about weird things in unweird places - kind of like her, everywhere.

Annalise Cowan

Creative Intern

Originally from Birmingham, Annalise is currently an undergraduate at Coventry University studying Dance (BA Hons). She was a member of Man Made Youth Company from 2015 to 2016, has been performing with Birmingham Opera Company since 2014 and joined Autin Dance Theatre in 2016 as Creative Intern.

Becca Thomas

Dance Artist

Originally from Birmingham, Rebecca trained in Theatre Dance (BA Hons) at London Studio Centre. From 2007 – 2011 she toured extensively with Ludus Dance, performing in works by Nigel Charnock, Yael Flexer, Ben Wright, Rosie Kay and Dylan Quinn. Rebecca then went on to receive an MA with Distinction from London Contemporary Dance School. As a freelance artist Rebecca has performed with Altered Skin, KILN, Parlor Dance and Sonia Sabri Company, as well as performing alongside dancers from Birmingham Royal Ballet in Flat Out choreographed by Jennifer MacNamara.
Rebecca is also a highly experienced teacher, and enjoys sharing her ongoing exploration of release technique and contact improvisation with diverse community groups, enthusiastic amateurs and professional dancers alike.
A founding member of Birmingham Dance Network, Rebecca is passionate about developing a vibrant dance ecology in her home town.

Monika Jauneikaite

Costume Designer

Monika Jauneikaite is a young and ambitious menswear fashion design student currently finishing her final year at Birmingham City University. Over four years of living here in England, Monika developed professional styling, designing and modelling skills which allow her to work with creative minded people all over the UK and Europe. Recently, she has been working with a menswear company Ada+Nik, designing online shop collection and styling various projects, photoshoots, and for Autin Dance Theatre productions. Her modelling career brought her to beautiful places such as Scotland, Brighton, Copenhagen and Vilnius. She had the opportunity to walk on L'Oréal and Wella runways, pose for Marius Domkus, Donata Kuktye, Andy Pillsbury, Natalie Jade and many more. The most enjoyable part about it is meeting same minded people and making strong contacts. Monika’s passion for design and fashion has minimal-urbanistic touch which brings unique results on every project. Her main inspiration comes from everyday urbanistic life, nature, cultural back-grounds and travelling.

Donata Kukytė

Visual Artist

Originally from Lithuania, Donata is a visual thinker and a dance lover working mainly with photography and moving images. She graduated from Visual Communication course in Birmingham City University focusing on performance and dance photography, and has since been working as a freelancer. Donata has worked with companies and choreographers including 'Aura' dance theatre, Autin dance theatre, Sandra Harnisch- Lacey, DanceXchange.

Education

LEARNING AND PARTICIPATION PROGRAMMES

From an introduction to the basics of contemporary dance and modern dance to advanced level classes for the more experienced dancer, our technique classes are suitable for schools, colleges, universities and community settings.

Young dancers can learn repertoire from Autin Dance Theatre’s professional work. Participants can benefit from learning and taking part in a workshop that will teach them either a short excerpt or a full length piece. The transmission of the Company’s work is adapted to suit beginners or more capable dancers.

Unique artistic development tools, the creative sessions are ideal for students of GCSE or A Level Dance who want to nurture their choreographic skills and for those auditioning for a vocational training programme, who may need to present a choreographed solo piece.

Autin Dance Theatre’s Creative Director, an acclaimed international artist, can be booked to choreograph a piece for performance. This can be over a shorter intensive period or as part of a longer-term project. For information and prices regarding our choreographic commissions, please contact us at [email protected]

These workshops are a great way to equip teachers who may not be familiar with dance technique with the skills they need to engage and inspire young people. They are also suitable for dance teachers who are looking to develop their practice further.

Creative Director Johnny Autin and Company Manager Alison Lord are qualified Arts Award Trainers for Bronze and Silver Awards. The company can deliver specific Arts Awards workshops or projects that will support your needs.

* Please note that these are guideline costs; we can tailor all education packages to your specifications and budget. Please contact Autin Dance Theatre directly to discuss your requirements or for a quote.
All costs are exclusive of travel and cover a single dance artist. We can arrange for additional dance artists to work with larger groups, please enquire for details.